Mobile OS wars: Symbian leads globally; Mac OS X surges

This was originally published at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Gartner has tallied the global smartphone sales by operating system, and the results put Symbian as the top dog with market share of 47.1 percent with RIM's BlackBerry OS a distant second at 19.5 percent.

Here's a look at the figures for the fourth quarter:

And 2008:

The statistics are a very relevant followup to my post on Wednesday trying to sort out what platforms developers will ultimately pick. After all, each of these platforms will have marketplaces and there are only so many developers. And all of these platforms will be vying for share in what is expected to be a down market. IDC said Thursday that it expects global mobile phone shipments to fall 8.3 percent in 2009. So-called converged device shipments are expected to increase 3.4 percent globally.

What's notable is that our unscientific poll revealed that few people saw Symbian as an operating system worth betting on.

Based on market share it appears that developers should be focused on creating applications for Symbian, Research in Motion, Windows Mobile, and the iPhone and iPod Touch as a turbo charge for growth. Palm remains too much of a wild card.

However, that decision isn't all that easy to make. Excluding Symbian, the mobile operating systems are bunched together in market share. For 2008, Mac OS X had growth of 245.7 percent, according to Gartner. The BlackBerry platform had the second best growth at 96.7 percent. Clearly, growth dictates focusing efforts on those two platforms.

Other notable points from Gartner's tally:

• Fourth quarter global smartphone units were 38.1 million, up 3.7 percent from a year ago. For 2008, 139.3 million smartphones were sold, up 13.9 percent from a year ago.

• Nokia had market share of 40.8 percent in the smartphone market at the end of the fourth quarter with RIM second at 19.5 percent. Apple had 10.7 percent.

• In the fourth quarter, Linux-based smartphone sales were up 19 percent from a year ago due to Android-based T-Mobile phones.

[cmdrlolcat]

It's not "Mac OS X", the correct name for iPhone and iPod touch's operating system is "iPhone OS".

[ausernamenoonehaschosen]

As stated elsewhere, the iPhone OS is supposedly a simplified version of Mac OS X, pick and choose.

[monty0000]

I will admit, it does not make much sense. If it is not running on a Macintosh, it should not be called "Mac OS X", and should simply be "OS X", or "Apple OS X". Unless the iPhone is really the Mac iPhone? In any case, I suppose it does not matter much.

[alenas]

It all depends on SDK and licensing. Developers choose the platform that is easier to develop on. Not necessary the OS that seems to be on steroids (for now). I do not think there is better tools, SDK and flexibility than those that are available for Windows Mobile...

[Pishkado]

"Developers choose the platform that is easier to develop on" is an oversimplification. (Been there, though not in phones.) It's a trade-off involving development effort, size of potential market, competition in that market (inversely correlated with size) and perceived ability to meet or beat where that competition will be when the new product comes out. Some of these are hard to quantify, so there's a lot of managerial/entrepreneurial judgment (not always good) thrown in too. Lots of packages fall flat,. Others surprise everyone (including, often, their developers) by seeming to come out of nowhere.

[anhtney]

I doubt the iPhone will go very far. Symbian will still lead because of Nokia. Nokia phones are still used more widely than any other phone (except in the U.S.).

[Chapmaniac]

I'd be surprised if the iPhone can maintain its momentum considering the coming wave of new hardware and their associated OSs (from Google, MS, Nokia, etc.).

[Maarek Stele]

Apple would need to beat Nokia as the #1 cell phone seller.

but there's a downfall for Apple, their overseas sales suck due to high data prices. So Symbian will still win. I think Android will beat Apple out with their free software and opensource OS keeping the devices lower in price than the iPhone.

[AppleSuxLeo]

NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of handset maker Palm Inc. charged up 7.5 percent in premarket trading Friday after an analyst upgraded the company, saying its new operating system has boosted the company's potential to catch up with smartphone industry leaders Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.

"Rather than a 'one product Hail Mary,' we see webOS as a platform spawning a family of devices addressing a broader market opportunity," wrote RBC Capital Markets equity analyst Mike Abramsky. He upgraded the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Treo maker to "Outperform" from "Sector Perform" and raised his target price on the stock to $12 from $5.

[mike234x]

Symbian and Apple are both old-school devices: application-oriented UIs, desktop integration, and all that. Apple makes it look and work prettier, but that is only painting lipstick on a dog.

The future belongs to devices like Android and Palm Pre: fully integrated with the Internet, and without silliness like "applications" or "tasks".